Hometown boy makes it big in Hollywood

Brian Dietzen has gone from Niwot Elementary School's Christmas pageant to a regular role on CBS' popular drama "NCIS." (Courtesy photo)

If you happened to be sitting in the audience at Niwot Elementary School's Christmas pageant in the early '80s, it's time you knew: Something was unfolding behind the scenes. Something big.

That's where 6-year-old Brian Dietzen decided he wanted to be an actor when he grew up.

"Figure out what you love, and then figure out how to get paid for it," Dietzen's dad had told him.

So that's what Dietzen did. All the way to Hollywood.

You probably know him as Jimmy Palmer, the medical examiner's assistant on the wildly popular crime drama, "NCIS," which airs on CBS at 7 p.m. Tuesdays.

This year -- his ninth on the show -- Dietzen was promoted to a regular, complete with a contract and a spot in the opening credits.

This week, he also released his own independent film titled "Congratulations." The film, created in partnership with fellow actor-writer-directors Juan Cardarelli, Eric M. Levy and Abby Miller, is a look at contemporary marriage -- how a marriage proposal essentially tears apart a relationship. The film includes some robust names, such as Debra Jo Rupp, who plays Kitty Forman on "That '70s Show."

"Congratulations" premiered this week in Austin, Texas, kicking off a national promotional tour. Dietzen hopes his film will be selected for the Boulder Film Festival in February, too.Dietzen's role on "NCIS" began as a one-day stint. Just something to pad his reel.

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"I thought, 'OK, what do I not have on my resume yet? I'll put on some glasses, hunch over a little bit, be nervous and peevish around this doctor, get it done and get something cool on my reel,' " he says.

One clip turned into nine years. And another face to diversify his resume has turned into his fame.

"Maybe I would have made different choices if I had known that," he says, with a laugh. "And then I probably wouldn't have gotten the role."

Dietzen studied theater at the University of Colorado and participated in the Colorado Shakespeare Festival for two years. He says his time at the university helped prepare him for success in cutthroat Los Angeles.

At CU, classes started as early as 8 a.m. and lasted until 3 p.m., followed almost immediately by scene work, followed by rehearsal for whichever show he was in. After rehearsal, between 11 p.m. and 2 a.m., he did his homework.

"The work ethic involved was huge," Dietzen says. "Then I moved out here, and it immediately felt like idle hands. I wasn't doing enough, so I started writing to people left and right."

He didn't know he wasn't supposed to write personal letters to casting directors and producers, saying bluntly, "I want to be on your show." He didn't know there was protocol for casting, involving agents and managers and hoops to jump through.

"Sometimes when you're young coming out of college, the best friend that you have is ignorance," Dietzen says. "Before you have the knowledge that you should be intimidated. Maybe it's innocence, or blindness. I just wanted to work."

He also made a time card for himself that he filled out, listing what he did for 40 hours per week, even when he was unemployed for six months.

His TV career started with a WB series, "My Guide to Becoming a Rock Star," which was canceled after only a few weeks. But it connected Dietzen to some good friends, who would soon become coworkers on other projects.

Dietzen also performed in the "American Idol"-based film, "From Justin to Kelly" (he also sings and dances), and he has landed roles on shows such as "Boston Public" and "Hit Factor" and films such as "Nowhere to Hide" and "Purgatory House."

He says the "inherent artistic challenge of being an actor" is what inspires him and keeps him pushing his career forward: the challenge to make things look real and natural. To make people believe.

"If it is good enough to suspend my belief and make me forget, it ceases to be entertainment and it starts to raise questions," Dietzen says. "Asking questions is the primary form of moving us forward as a society. Not just settling on answers. It's questioning where we are."

That drives the content of the scripts he writes, too.

"I want to ask tough questions in the guise of entertainment," he says.

When he is not busy on the "NCIS" set, Dietzen is working on writing another independent film about fatherhood. He is also currently organizing a benefit for his child's preschool, which he says somehow seems to take up more time than getting in film festivals, producing films and working on a major network drama.

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